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responsibility and the ways that business decisions can make a difference," says Marilyn Gist. course was a simulation experience," says Acutt. "We eventu- ally abandoned the simulation option in favor of a capstone course that asked each student, 'What's your big idea?' We wanted the course to place each student's idea in a global context in relation to sustainability and what they want to do with their lives." While taking the course on the principles of sustainable Duquesne SMBA student Holly Gioia presents her team's solution during a workshop on the human dimension of climate change at the United Nations University in Bonn in March 2008. and universities so they could discuss the challenges of sus- tainable business practices overseas. The integrated curriculum is flexible enough to allow students to learn core business skills and explore sustainable issues in depth, all while designing and implementing projects that have meaning and impact for themselves and the com- munity, says Gerde. For example, one SMBA team worked with a local grocery chain to determine the business case for using plastic, paper, or reusable bags. Another worked with a company to draw up an analysis of how it should handle membership to the Chicago Climate Exchange, a system of "carbon trading" that allows organizations that produce fewer greenhouse gases to sell allowances to those that pro- duce more. This summer, another team will develop a system to help a company chart its progress in achieving sustainable business practices across its operation. Presidio's MBA program in sustainable management com- prises 16 courses with no electives. Presidio faculty collabo- rate regularly to integrate core disciplines and sustainability issues vertically, across all courses, and horizontally, through- out the duration of the MBA program. Each summer, pro- fessors attend a two-day meeting to discuss opportunities to integrate and cross-reference content in all courses; through- out the academic year, faculty also produce online workshops to share what's happening in each professor's classroom. "We want to make sure we're all on the same page in terms of the flow of content," says Acutt. At the end of the program, students take an integrative capstone course, where they connect what they've learned to a project that's meaningful to them. "Initially, our capstone 30 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2008 management, for example, a group of Presidio students persuaded Presidio faculty and board members to join the Chicago Climate Exchange. During a course on marketing and operations the following semester, the team continued its project by launching Drive Neutral, an organization that allowed individuals to offset their own carbon emissions. One team member continued to lead Drive Neutral after he graduated and eventually expanded its environmental focus beyond carbon offsets to include eco-friendly lifestyle choic- es. The organization, now called Live Neutral, has partnered with Presidio and the Exchange to launch an executive train- ing program focused on carbon markets and the new regula- tory environment. Other students have entered traditional corporate envi- ronments, ranging from Mattel to Wal-Mart, to help these companies develop more sustainable strategies. "Students who pursue MBAs in sustainable management can redefine traditional careers," says Acutt. "They also can create com- pletely new careers in sectors that didn't exist 20 years ago." From Thought to Action The difference between ethics and social responsibility is the difference between thought and action, say these educators. "The planet needs help; our social systems need help. Busi- ness leaders are being asked to leverage opportunities to be positive forces for change," says Gist of the Albers School. Students trained in sustainable management, she adds, "are more conscious of social responsibility and the ways that business decisions can make a difference." These educators argue that their sustainability-savvy, socially responsible business students aren't just pushing for social change. These students are showing businesses how to become more efficient, more profitable, and more capable of meeting society's growing expectations that they leave the world better than they found it. n z sustainable management are more conscious of social The planet needs help. Students trained in